What major parts have you had to replace and what type of car is it?
Synthetic or conventional oil?
I've had cars that I baby to death that always break, others I've beat the shit out of and neglected and have held up fine. It all depends on the brand of car (at least imo)
Think it depends on freeway vs. stop-and-go around town. The 3000 mile rule is clearly propaganda suggested by the Jiffy Lube's of the world. I've been doing about 7500 mile intervals and getting over 200,000 on my Subaru. I baby my S2000, and probably overdoing the oil-change intervals.
I changed the oil on my 1997 Honda Accord every 3-4000 miles and put 366,000 miles on it. Now I drive a 2011 Toyota Corolla, changing the oil every 10,000 miles (because it uses synthetic oil) and I expect to put 250,000 miles on it. Does your car use synthetic oil?
The vehivle is an 2001 Pontiac grand am v6 with the ram air intake. I did a transmission at 250,000 miles. I have put starter alternator, batteries, water pump, fuel pump, belts, pulleys, brakes, etc... I bought it with 136,000 miles. It sat for 2 years with the transmission out of it. When i started driving it again i put injector cleaner in one tank full, ran that gas out on the highway, refueled and took it for emissions testing. They said it ran like a new one and were surprised it sat for 2 years and was that clean. It is mostly highway miles.
Yeah why not since the tranny is relatively new/rebuilt.
When something major breaks - immediately dump it, because I have found in older cars when 1 thing breaks - many more things usually follow (used to be in the car biz so I know).
No matter what people tell you, stick with the same oil since the engine is used to it.
You can use regular/conventional oil, you just should change it more often than synthetic if you want to get similar results as running synthetic. I agree that the 3,000 mile mark the oil companies use is just a ruse to sell you more/often oil changes.
I've changed my pickup's synthetic oil every 7-10,000 miles and I just turned over 200,000 miles and it still runs like new.
I have a Toyota with reported problems with oil sludge for those that did not get oil changed every 3000 miles. I haven't had the oil sludge problem changing oil every 3000 to 3400 miles. Not using synthetic. I have a mix of city and highway driving and end up getting oil changed about 3 times a year. I think that's a small price to pay to avoid extra problems.
I change the oil in my Odyssey every 5000 miles as per the owner's manual. Same with the two Accuras. The Lotus I change every 3 months even if I only drove a few hundred miles.
Generally it is the filter that needs to be changed often. The oil can easily do 10,000-12,000 miles (I used to work as a chemist and I tested my mobil 1 in the lab when I worked there) but the filters start to need help at 6-7K mile mark. For example my Mobil 1 (from my V8 Mustang) tested almost like new at 10..11..12K miles, the only thing starting to get high was the amount of suspended solids (in the oil). So if you change the filter at 6 or 7.5K then top off the oil, you are good IMO.
3K is a crap myth, I agree. If you are worried (stop & go driving) just change the filter. That is what taxi cabs do, if I understand correctly (at every 6K).
Now cars that sit around (collectors car, summer only toy, storage) have two additional problems. One is condensation (water buildup) in the crankcase and two is accelerated acidification of the oil. This is really a problem in cold climates. Here I change the oil in my toy car before and after winter when the car comes in and out of storage. I also have similar problems with the fuel in the tank going to garbage too when it sits all winter.
14 comments
Synthetic or conventional oil?
I've had cars that I baby to death that always break, others I've beat the shit out of and neglected and have held up fine. It all depends on the brand of car (at least imo)
Still runs and looks good...
Should I go for 400?
When something major breaks - immediately dump it, because I have found in older cars when 1 thing breaks - many more things usually follow (used to be in the car biz so I know).
No matter what people tell you, stick with the same oil since the engine is used to it.
on vehicles
You can use regular/conventional oil, you just should change it more often than synthetic if you want to get similar results as running synthetic. I agree that the 3,000 mile mark the oil companies use is just a ruse to sell you more/often oil changes.
I've changed my pickup's synthetic oil every 7-10,000 miles and I just turned over 200,000 miles and it still runs like new.
3K is a crap myth, I agree. If you are worried (stop & go driving) just change the filter. That is what taxi cabs do, if I understand correctly (at every 6K).
Now cars that sit around (collectors car, summer only toy, storage) have two additional problems. One is condensation (water buildup) in the crankcase and two is accelerated acidification of the oil. This is really a problem in cold climates. Here I change the oil in my toy car before and after winter when the car comes in and out of storage. I also have similar problems with the fuel in the tank going to garbage too when it sits all winter.